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PRESENTED BY 




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PROCEEDINGS AT THE BANQUET 

TO 

HON. MORGAN J. O'BRIEN 



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(©fficer0 of t^e ^octet^ of t\)t iFrienul^ ^onsf 
of ^u ^Patrick, 1900 

PRESIDENT 

JAMES A. O'GORMAN 

FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT 

EDWARD PATTERSON 

SECOND VICE-PRESIDENT 

CONSTANTINE J. MACGUIRE, M.D. 

TREASURER 

JOHN D. CRIMMINS 

RECORDING SECRETARY 

BARTHOLOMEW MOYNAHAN 

CORRESPONDING SECRETARY 

JOHN J. ROONEY 

ALMONER 

JOHN CRANE 



At a meeting of the Society of the Friendly Sons 
OF St. Patrick in the City of New York, held January 
and, 1900, at Delmonico's, the Hon. James Fitzgerald 
proposed the following resolution which was duly 
seconded and unanimously adopted by the Society: 

"WHEREAS, We, The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, 
"appreciate in a marked degree the high personal character and 
"splendid services to our Society of Hon. Morgan J. O'Brien, our 
"retiring President, and desire to express in some conspicuous 
"complimentary manner the feelmgs of personal esteem with 
"which we regard him, THEREFORE, BE IT 

"RESOLVED, that we cordially invite him to accept a 
"dinner of the Society to be given in his honor at Delmonico's 
"on Wednesday evening, January 31st, 1900. 

"RESOLVED, that for the purpose of carrying out the 
"details of the proposed compliment, a committee of twenty-five 
"be appointed by the Chair with full power to take all the steps 
"necessary to make the occasion memorable and worthy." 

The Chair appointed as such committee the following: 

James Fitzgerald John G. O'Keeffe 

John D. Crimmins Michael E. Bannin 

Richard M. Walters Edward D. Farrell 

Maurice J. Power Thomas C. O'Sulhvan 

John Whalen John F. Carroll 

William R. Grace Col. Edward Duffy 

James S. Coleman W. J. K. Kenny 

Hugh J. Grant Edward C. Sheehy 

Frederick Smyth John O'Sullivan 

Francis Higgins Daniel F. McMahon 

Richard Deeves Edward J. McGuire 

Vincent P. Travers Howard Constable 

Miles M. O'Brien John Stewart 

Bartholomew Moynahan John J. Rooney 



The Dinner took place at Delmonico's, Fifth Ave- 
nue, on January 31st, 1900, and during the proceedings 
a loving cup was presented to Judge O'Brien. The fol- 
lowing members and guests were present: 



DAIS 



James A. O' Gorman 



Morgan J. O'Brien 
James M. Fitzsimons 
Rufus B. Cowing 
Henry A. Gildersleeve 
P. Henry Dugro 
Henry Bischoff, Jr. 
David Leventritt 
Francis M. Scott 
Chester B. McLaughlin 
Charles H. Van Brunt 



Most Rev. Michael A. Corrigan, D.D. 

Denis O'Brien 

J. Edward Simmons 

Edgar L. Fursman 

Joseph C. Hendrix 

Charles H. Truax 

Abraham R. Lawrence 

Henry R. Beekman 

George P. Andrews 

Leonard A. Giegerich 

David McAdam 



TABLE A 



Edmond J. Curry 
John McLaughlin 
Cornelius Callahan 
James Reilly 
James T. Smith 
J. F. Curry, M.D. 
J. J. Quinlan 
W. W. Wheatley 
Ashbel Green 
Edward Bell 
Maurice Bouvier 
Frank Wells 
Fred A. Guild 
Franklin Bartlett 
Wm. F. Carey 
Louis B. Rolston 
Thomas J. Col ton 
John J. Gibbons 
William Temple Emmet 
Granville T. Emmet 
Edward Duffy 
Wm. L. Turner 
Thomas Costigan 

Maurice J, 



E. D. Farrell 
M. J. Stack 
M. T. Barrett 
Thomas Willis 
Daniel J. Kane 
T. J. Shanley 
J. R. Benjamin 
John A. Brill 
Ira A. McCormick 
H. H. Vreeland 
Daniel M. Brady 
W. H. Whalen 
Geo. W. McCluskey 
William Schickel 
Thomas J. Byrne 
Marston R. Cockey 
John Reid 
A. V. Porter 
John Vesey 
John H. Scully 
Michael J. Scanlan 
Timothy J. Hayes 
Charles E. Nammack, M.D. 
Power 



TABLE B 



P. F. Collier 
John Fox 
Daniel F. Cooney 
Anthony Oechs 
James Whealen 
Rev. Bro. Eusebius 
Wm. H. Hurst 
A. G. Humraell 
John J. Walsh 
Jos. M. Byrne 
P. J. Cuskley 
Wm. M. Ryan 
Thos. C. Ennever 
P. J. Walsh 
C. A. Hart 
James A. Hart 
F. C. O'Reilly 
Joseph P. Fallon 
Edward O' Flaherty 
William P. Burr 
R. M. Walters 
George Bartholomew 
John J. Moore 



John F. Farley 
Andrew J. Shipman 
James J. Phelan 
Edmund Luis Mooney 
Louis F. Doyle 
Daniel O'Connell 
M. Warley Platzek 
Joseph E. Gavin 
John Delahunty 
J. P. Caddagan 
Andrew J. Connick 
Guest 

Benjamin F. Rhoads 
Thos. P. Kelly 
John Byrns 
Joseph W. Lawrence 
Patrick Kiernan 
Terence F. Curley 
Stephen J. Geoghegan 
John J. Kennedy 



James McGovern 
Charles F. Walters 
Philip A. Smyth 
John G. O'Keeffe 



TABLE C 



William J. K. Kenny 
Wm. Geoghegan, M. D. 
Wm. George Foster 
Thomas C. O'Sullivan 
James F. Shaperkotter 
Geo. E. Best 
Wm. E. Burke 
Joseph P. Day 
Adrian T. Kiernan 
Guest 

James Curran 
Arthur O'Connor 
Joseph B. Bissell, M. D, 
M. J. Mulqueen 
Abraham Stern 
Morris J. Hirsch 
R. J. Lyons 
John J. Harrington 
Philip J. Britt 
John E. McDonald 
Percival E. Nagle 
Maurice Untermeyer 
C, W. Morse 

John F. 



Daniel F. McMahon 
James P. Keating 
Bernard Naughton 
John Beaver 
G. W. McNulty 
William H. Bailey 
Frank A. McHugh 
Charles D. O'Connell 
Nicolas Geoffray 
Wm. P. Maloney 
J. Campbell Thompson 
Wm. G. Davies 
Julien T. Davies, Jr. 
Julien T. Davies 
Samuel Untermeyer 
Thomas J. Dunn 
Matthew Corbett 
James J. Martin 
Edward R. Carroll 
Isaac Fromme 
John B. Sexton 
J. Ross Curran 
Wm. H. Gelshenen 
Carroll 



lO 



TABLE D 



Lewis J. Conlan 
William N. Penney 
Murray C. Danenbaum 
John H. Spellman 
F. B. Delehanty 
Joseph P. McDonough 
Thomas J. Kearney 
A. F. Travers 
F. C. Travers 
Henry Anderson 
V. P. Travers 
Howard Constable 
John A. Sullivan 
DeLancey Nicoll 
Frank T. Fitzgerald 
Andrew Freedman 
Jacob A. Cantor 
William F. Sheehan 
M. E. Bannin 
Bird S. Coler 
William R. Grace 
William N. Cohen 
Frederick Smyth 

Edward 



James Fitzgerald 
Silas W. Burt 
John J. Rooney 
George H. Fahrbach 
James A. Deering 
Edward F. O'Dwyer 
John Stewart 
Martin J. Earley 
J. J. Cavanagh 
P, N. Knapp 
George Mitchell 
John B. Brennan 
John Crane 
Eugene A. Philbin 
Charles R. Miller 
John McQuade 
Guest 

Edward D. O'Brien 
Arthur Terry 
Henry Morgenthau 
B. F. Coleman 
James S. Coleman 
George C. Barrett 
Patterson 



II 



TABLE E 



John W. Keller 
Thomas S. Brennan 
John W. GoflE 
Richard Deeves 
Frederick A. Burnham 
George D. Eldridge 
Andrew Little 
John Gilsey 
David Wile 
Norman F. Cross 
E. J. O'Shaughnessy 
Robert E. McDonnell 
Roderick J. Kennedy 
P. Gallagher 
Hugh King 

E. W. Wakelee 
John A. Young 
James C. Young 
Robert Gibson 
Thomas F. Bardon 
Rastus C. Ransom 

F. J. Quinlan, M.D. 
William L. Brown 

Constantine J. 



Hugh J. Grant 
Anthony J. Brady 
James A. Blanchard 
George H. Burnham 
Miles M. O'Brien 
Edward C. Sheehy 
James F. Frawley 
John Fleming 
C. Yates Wemple 
Lawrence Winters 
John O'Sullivan 
H. Y. Wemple 
Jacob F. Gunther 
Peter McDonnell 
James P. Farrell 
George W. Young 
A. S. White 
Charles L. Young 
Charles Phelps, M.D 
Frederick Flower 
Bryan L. Kennelly 
Thomas L. Feitner 
John Whalen 
Macguire, M.D. 



la 



TABLE F 



David O'Brien 
W. T. Baker 
Michael T. Daly 
Robert McCafferty 
Robert E. Deyo 
Wm. B. Ellison 
Chas. D. Olendorf 
Theodore Connoly 
Parrel F. O'Dowd 
Joseph P. Healey 
D. C. Haggerty 
John P. Haggerty 
Chas. J. Henry 
J. Henry Haggerty 
Prank L. Haggerty 
Thomas H. Bemis 
James Kearney 
James Butler 
John H. Rogan 
Joseph J. O'Donohue 
David McClure 
D. J. Bodkin, M.D. 
Wm. J. Fanning 



A. C. Twining 
John P. O'Brien 
Chas. Strauss 
Leo Schlesinger 
Geo. W. Krochl 
A. H. Joline 
G. B. M. Harvey 
L. T. Fell 
Frank J, Breslin 
Wm. A. Kane 
James T. Hickey 
Peter P. Kane 
John Lynn 
T. E. Crimmins 
A. G. Jennings 
J. M. Quigley 
Henry D. Macdona 
Benjamin Yates 
Lorenzo Semple 
Horace K. Doherty 
James W. Connelly 
Michael Coleman 
M. P. Breslin 
Francis Higgins 



13 



TABLE G 



Daniel Whitford 
Rev. James W. Power 
Daniel J. Quinlan 
Thaddeus Moriarty 
James Quinlan 
Thomas J. Nealis 
Henry Lowenthal 
J. E, Hardenberg 
Augustin Walsh 
James Dunne 
John Rooney 
Jocelyn Johnstone 
Timothy J. M. Murray 
Nicholas J. Barrett 
Thomas Barrett 
Joseph J. Gleason 
Patrick Ryan 
Isaac Bell Brennan 
John B. Finn 
William H. Ricketts 
RoUin M. Morgan 
Ernest Staples 
Thomas F. Ryan 
M. J. Drummond 
W. J. Fransioli 
John Goodwin 
John J. Lenehan 
C. C. Sanders 
John Vincent 

Edward J. 



Bartholomew Moynahan 
Thomas Kirkpatrick 
James Flynn 
Peter J. Loughlin 
John Connolly 
James J. Nealis 
James L. McNierney 
John McCullough 
Austin Finegan 
Richard P. Lydon 
Walter A. Burke 
John Slattery 
Frank S. Gannon, Jr. 
J. Walter Gannon 
Frank S. Gannon 
Edward Eyre 
Thomas J. Woodlock 
Samson Lachman 
Joseph P. Healy 
Guest of M. E, Bannin 
Charles L. Guy 
C. J. O'Callaghan 
John Kirkpatrick 
Cornelius T. DriscoU 
Patrick Farrelly 
Stephen Farrelly 
John Byrne 
Frank Sullivan Smith 
Hector W. Thomas 
McGuire 



H 



JHenu 



Sauternes 



Huitres 



Sherry Premier 



potage 

Consomm^ Celestine 
Tortue verte au claire 



Radis 



Bora d'Oeurres 
Olives 



Celeri 



Poisson 

Aiguillettes de bass ^ la Marifenire 
Pommes de terre Duchesse 

r 

Releve 

Champagne Selle de raouton, sauce Colbert 

Celeri brais^ 

6ntreee 

Poularde farcie aux marrons 

Petits pois au beurre 

Terrepfene k la Baltimore 

SORBET PRUNELLE 



Chateau Couffran 



Rots 

Canards ^ tete rouge 
Salade de celeri 

Entremets de Douceur 

Glaces de fantaisies 

Fruits Petits fours 

Fromage 

Caf^ 



Liqueurs 
Alineral Waters 
Cigars 



^.v 



Rot* 

. . .-.iw Cfu^ran Canards k t6te rouge 

Salade de celeri 

Fruits 



:.^qiir:irs 




COPYRIGHTED, igOO, THE GORHAM MFG. CO., N. Y. 



15 



REMARKS OF JUDGE O'GORMAN 

The President, having rapped for order, said: 

Gentlemen, I am sure the presence of this large and dis- 
tinguished company is no less gratifying to our guest than to the 
officers of the Society. A common sentiment pervades us all 
to-night. We meet to pay a well-deserved compliment to a 
gentleman, who holds a high place in the esteem and affections 
of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick. (Applause). 

During the long history of our Society, extending back to the 
very dawn of our National life, we have had many presidents, 
all men of ability and high character, but, without disparagement 
of any of them, we never had a more zealous, capable, or efficient 
officer, or a truer friend than Judge O'Brien. (Applause). He 
brought to the discharge of his duties a high appreciation of 
the responsibilities of his position, a praiseworthy ambition to 
advance the Society, and to extend its usefulness, and an intense 
fidelity to the principles and traditions of Irish nationality and 
Irish patriotism, which it should always be the aim of this organ- 
ization to foster, uphold and perpetuate. (Applause). How admir- 
ably he succeeded is known to you all. It was reserved for his 
administration to witness the highest prosperity to which the 
Society has ever attained. Never before was the limit of mem- 
bership reached. Never before did the Society have a waiting 
list ; never before was our treasury in such a flourishing condition, 
and more important than all else, never before in all its career, 
did the society exercise a more potent influence in promoting, in 
this City and State and Country, the status of Irish exiles and 
their descendants. (Applause). For Judge O'Brien's valuable 
contributions to these magnificent results, the Society will ever 



i6 

hold him in gfrateful remembrance. And when it is recalled that 
his administration was so eminently successful, it is not surpris- 
ing that we were anxious to re-elect him for a fourth term ; but 
our friend occupies a unique place among the citizens of this city, 
because of his desire, recently cultivated, to escape from office; 
and, much to our regret, he refused the proffered honor of a re- 
election. Although we could not persuade him to retain office, 
he was induced to accept our hospitality to-night ; and whether 
we regard him as a citizen of irreproachable private life, or a 
jurist of distinguished attainments, I am sure I express the senti- 
ments of all present when I say we are proud of Judge O'Brien. 
(Applause). We rejoice in his triumphs, and we are confident that 
his future career will be marked by the same brilliant success 
that his talents and industry have so richly merited in the past; 
and let me assure you, Judge O'Brien, that in this city, where 
your friends are legion, you have no more ardent admirers, or 
more sincere well-wishers than the Friendly Sons of St. Pat- 
rick gathered about this board to-night. (Cheers). That their 
admiration may assume some more enduring expression, it is 
my privilege, on their behalf, to present to you this loving cup. 
May it ever be a reminder to you and your children that, upon 
your retirement from the presidency of the most ancient Irish 
Society in America, your fellow members gave you the highest 
personal tribute that could be paid to any man. (Loud and pro- 
found applause). 

Gentlemen, I ask you to drink to the health of our guest. 
Judge Morgan J. O'Brien. May his cup of happiness and content- 
ment be ever as full as it is to-night. (Cheers). 



The toast was duly honored, the entire company 
rising and singing, "For he is a Jolly Good Fellow." 
The demonstration continued until the President again 
exercised his gavel in creating order. 



17 

Judge O'Brien, who on rising received an enthusi- 
astic ovation, said: 

My Dear Friends: — Many a time have I stood before the 
Friendly Sons and their guests, but never before with such con- 
flicting emotions of embarrassment and pride. Language fails 
me to express my heartfelt appreciation of this magnificent gath- 
ering or make a fitting response to the friendly, able and gener- 
ous address of your president. 

That I should feel embarrassed is natural; for this great 
banquet, supplemented as it is by what to me is a priceless lov- 
ing cup, far exceeds aught that I have deserved or had the right 
to expect. (Cries of "No. No.") I must in great part attribute 
it to the warmth and the generous impulses of your hearts rather 
than to any merit of mine. And just here my embarrassment 
begins, for although I do sincerely feel that the reward far 
exceeds my deserts, I must not go too far in that direction lest I 
seem to reflect on your judgment and wisdom in having planned 
and arranged this beautiful testimonial. I am forced, therefore 
to accept, and, I trust, with becoming modesty, the reasons 
assigned by Judge O' Gorman for this dinner. 

Among these, he has been good enough to refer to the share 
I have had in the building up and strengthening of this ancient 
and honorable society. (Applause.) That to me was a labor of 
love. When we recall how this society was brought into life 
and being, and cradled amidst the stirring times after our Amer- 
ican Revolution by Irish officers who, by their valor and courage, 
had aided in the success of the greatest effort for human liberty 
the world has ever known : how, stirred by a desire to keep alive 
the fire of patriotism, these men banded together in this society 
which, through the years, has remained true to the principles 
and sentiments of its founders : we, who love our country with 
every fibre of our hearts and who venerate and cherish the cause 
of the race from which we sprung, might indeed, with pleasure, 



i8 



give some small part of our time to perpetuate a society of Irish- 
men and their descendants, which, regardless of politics or relig- 
ion, is designed to promote patriotism, to extend charity and to 
bring into closer social union men who, however they may differ 
on methods of policies, are united in their affection for America 
and its institutions, and who, stand ready to extend encourage- 
ment and aid to those who, under less favored conditions, are still 
united to us through our fathers and our forefathers by ties of 
race and blood. (Applause.) 

I can, without taking the credit therefor, assert that, during 
the years of my presidency, the society has signally prospered. 
How could it be otherwise when its administrative officers 
included as vice-presidents. Judge Smyth and Mayor Grant; as 
treasurer, John Crimmins ; as secretaries, McGuire and Moyna- 
han ; as almoner, John Crane, and as chairman of the Admission 
Committee, Judge Fitzgerald? (Applause.) Nor should I fail to 
mention our stewards, whose efforts made our dinners a success. 
And what should I not say of the active members, each one of 
whom I would like to name and shake by the hand to-night, and 
thank, not alone for their unvarying loyalty and support, but for 
their generous forbearance in my mistakes and shortcomings as 
their presiding officer. (Applause.) 

These were the factors that made my duties light and pleas- 
ant, and made the Society successful and prosperous, and these 
were the men who, besides their past marks of friendship and 
esteem, would crown their generous treatment of me personally 
by adding to my debt of gratitude and affection this splendid 
banquet and superb loving cup. I accept both in the spirit in 
which they are given, and will retain this loving cup as a souve- 
nir of disinterested friendship while I live, and bequeath it to 
my posterity as a priceless heritage. (Applause.) 

"While such a spirit of loyalty and friendship for the presi- 
dent and officers continues, how can the society be other than 
prosperous? That my worthy successor will have the same gen- 



19 

erous support aud treatment that I have always received, I have 
no manner of doubt. He enters upon his office with the entire 
confidence of every member ; and when to this is added his char- 
acter and ability, we need have no fear for the future of the 
Society. (Applause.) Its past history and traditions are splen- 
did, its present is secure.and the future, under his guiding hand, 
is full of glorious possibilities. (Applause.) And, if a stimulus 
were needed to encourage him in his efforts to carry onward and 
upward the good work of the Society, it is furnished in the exhi- 
bition given to-night of the kindness, forbearance and generosity 
of the Friendly Sons. 

Regardless of my mistakes and failings, I find myself sur- 
rounded to-night by the same kind and generous friends that 
greeted me when I first became president. And I can truthfully 
say that this gathering more than makes amends for any efforts 
of mine which were freely and honestly devoted to the welfare 
of the Society. (Applause.) 

With the flight of years, be they many or few, what softened 
remembrances shall come to me when I think of the friends of 
to-night and of the pleasures and joys of which they were a part? 
Often in memory shall I revisit this scene, and, though many a 
hope and ambition may be wrecked and shattered, nothing ever 
can rob me of the pride, the pleasure and the consolation with 
which your presence and greeting have filled me to-night. (Ap- 
plause.) 

Because so much in accord with my own feelings, I can not 
refrain from paraphrasing in part those beautiful lines of Moore : 

Farewell, but whenever you welcome the hour 
That awakens the night song of mirth in your bower, 
Then think of the friend who once welcomed it too 
And forgot his own griefs to be happy with you. 
His griefs may return, not a hope may remain 
Of the few that have brightened his pathway of pain ; 



20 



But he never shall forget the short vision that threw 
Its enchantment around him while lingering with you. 

Let fate do her worst, there are relics of joy 
Bright dreams of the past which she cannot destroy ; 
Which come in the night time of sorrow and care 
And bring back the features that joy used to wear. 
Long, long be my heart with such memories filled, 
Like the cup in which friendship has once been distilled. 
You may break, you may shatter the cup if you will; 
But the memory of friendship will cling to it still. 

(Loud and prolonged applause.) 

The President : Mr. John T. Brennan, one of the 
Friendly Sons, will now sing. (Applause.) 

Mr. Brennan then rendered "A Dream of Para- 
dise" (Gray), and in response to an imperative en- 
core gave "The Kerry Dance" (MoUoy.) 

The President : Gentlemen, Judge O'Brien told 
you of the great aid and services rendered to him by 
his associates in the Board of Management. Judge 
Fitzgerald, on behalf of those gentlemen, will tell you 
what they think of Judge O'Brien. 

Judge Fitzgerald, on rising, was received with 
enthusiastic applause. He said : 

Mr. President, Brother Members of the Society of the 
Friendly Sons, and Friends : After all that has been said, and 
so well said, by our worthy President regarding our guest, it is 
difficult for me to find any new matter with which to interest 



21 



you ; but, as chairman of the committee charged by the Society 
with the arrangements for this dinner, I may be permitted to 
offer a few words of explanation and of congratulation. I desire, 
in the first place, to extend my sincere thanks to all the members 
of the committee for the very efficient services rendered by them 
in organizing the grand success of this evening. 

As Judge O'Brien said of his work for the Society, I can truly 
say of their work in regard to this demonstration — it was a labor 
of love. (Applause). True, there were not many difficulties in our 
way. No embarrassing situation confronted us, and in this re- 
spect I might say,in a spirit of entire good nature, that we were in a 
very different position from some perplexed persons who were in 
charge of a similar matter in this City quite recently. (Laughter). 
We had no such difficulty to confront as that which had to be 
met and surmounted by that triumvirate of delegated authority 
known in this community as the "Three Johns." (Renewed laugh- 
ter). Although a pleasant presentation of the silver question 
was on our programme (laughter), we did not feel called upon to 
impress the rule of golden silence upon our guest; we did not 
have to enter into involved preliminary explanations as to 
whether we were going to publicly entertain a private citizen, or 
privately entertain a public character. (Laughter). Our guest, in a 
word, was not in the enemy's country (more laughter) ; he was 
by the fireside of his admirers and the home of his friends. 
(Applause). 

Judge O'Brien was, as you have been told, on three separate 
occasions, elected president of the Society of the Friendly Sons 
of St. Patrick. "We thrice presented him with a kingly crown, 
which he did thrice accept. (Laughter and applause). We were 
particularly anxious to make a fourth presentation of that piece 
of usually coveted headgear, but upon the fourth occasion our 
Caesar revolted. (Laughter). You will readily see that no 
apprehension of imperialism in any way daunted our intrepid 
souls. (Laughter). 



22 



I wish to express, in addition, the thanks of the Society to 
the distinguished gentlemen who have aided in making this a 
great occasion by their presence — to the worthy representative 
of the great Church to which so many of the children of St. Pat- 
rick belong, our admired, beloved and respected Archbishop 
(applause); to the distinguished members of the judiciary asso- 
ciated with Judge O'Brien (applause), and to the many well 
known representatives of the commercial and professional inter- 
ests of this great City, who have favored us by accepting our 
invitation, and who were glad of an opportunity to unite with us 
in this tribute of honor to our friend. (Applause.) 

Why is it necessary that I should speak to you of our feelings 
towards Judge O'Brien? This occasion speaks with an eloquence 
in comparison with which the tribute of words is absolutely in- 
significant. The qualities that command the admiration of the 
gentlemen who sit around these tables cannot be enumerated. 
You cannot catalogue the gifts of a broad and cultivated mind, 
of a generous and noble heart, of a true and worthy nature. 
(Applause). These are attributes the possession of which forces 
recognition with the same unobservable power that the sun of 
the morning floods the universe with the glory of its light. 
(Applause.) 

The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick take a deep interest in 
everything connected with the achievements of the children of 
our grand old race. Literature, art, science, military annals — all 
team with the glories of the sons of the Gael. In every age — 
while we make no shadowy pretensions — we are proud of the fact 
that, notwithstanding we may have been discriminated against 
by overpowering force, we have steadily and resolutely striven 
in the face of all obstacles to carry to the front.and to keep flying, 
the old flag. (Applause). 

Is it then any wonder that our affections go forth to a man 
like Judge O'Brien, who, in this community, and under the folds 
of our glorious flag, which grants equal opportunities to all. 



23 

attained, by the strength of his personal character, a position of 
dignity and responsibility in the community, and who performs 
its exacting duties in a manner to win and maintain the respect 
of all his fellow-citizens? (Applause). 

That he has been a splendid executive head of our Society 
all our members only too well know. Kind, patriotic, concilia- 
tory, yielding in non-essentials but in essentials fixed and reso- 
lute, he endeavored to maintain the standard of the Society in 
accordance with its high traditions and its glorious history. 
(Applause). Voicing the sentiments of the members of our 
ancient body, speaking for all within the sound of my voice— in 
the presence of the fair and beloved partner of your life (pro- 
longed applause), who looks down upon this scene with that 
sense of pride which only a true wife and mother can feel— allow 
me on behalf of our grand old Society to wish you, Judge O'Brien, 
a long life of happiness and prosperity ; may your every dream 
be realized, your every ambition satisfied ; may your future years 
be years of crowning glory and honor, as your merits deserve. 
(Loud and prolonged applause;. 

The President next announced a song by Mr. George 
Mitchell. 

Mr. Mitchell rendered "The Minstrel Boy," which 
was much appreciated, and before retiring from the 
piano sang "Savourneen Dheelish, Aileen Og." 

The President introduced as the next speaker Mr. 
Joseph C. Hendrix. 

Mr. Hendrix, who was warmly received said: 

Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen: I deem it a great honor to 
be permitted to be a guest upon an occasion of this kind. I come 



24 

as an ambassador from a far off country. I am commissioned 
by the money power to come to the Court of St. Patrick to-night 
and deposit laurels and chaplets at the feet of your distinguished 
guest — Pansies for remembrance, Violets for fidelity, Roses for 
purity and Rosemary for thought. (Applause). Then, too, it is 
a great pleasure to face an audience of this kind. There is noth- 
ing in the experience of an after-dinner speaker more delightful 
than to catch the response, the quickness of feehng and appreci- 
ation, and the fervor in action of a Celtic audience. (Applause). 
Then, too, it is an occasion so peculiarly interesting and beauti- 
ful — bounded as it is on the south by the Blarney Stone, on the 
east by Erin Go Bragh, on the west by "The Harp That Once 
Thro' Tara's Hall" and on the north (pointing to the ladies' gal- 
lery) by "The Colleen Bawn." (Laughter and applause) — I do 
not know just why the presence of a banker is appropriate. 
Perhaps it is to relieve the tedium of this long line of judges — 
the fullest bench that has been seen in New York for a long 
while. (Laughter). 

It is a great pleasure to pay tribute to Judge Morgan J. 
O'Brien. (Applause). He is known outside of the confines of the 
Friendly Sons of St. Patrick. You do not own all that there is 
of him. He belongs to us all. (Applause). He belongs to the 
community which he serves ; he belongs to the City which he 
honors ; he belongs to the time which he adorns and to the coun- 
try which he loves. (Applause). He is a gentlemen of pride, of 
intellect, of education, of a gift of nature which man may well 
envy, of a wise and catholic spirit, of a love for his fellow man, 
of a judicial temper, and above all, a gentlemen, of a sterling 
patriotism. (Applause). I know how you, Irishmen, love him, 
but Dutchmen like Truax and me can love him also. (Laughter 
and applause). I enjoyed the welcome you gave him. I thought, 
when he was paraphrasing, he might go further and as I heard 
an after-dinner speaker one night, in the ebullition of good feel- 
ing, paraphrase an old hymn when he said : 



25 

"When death's dark stream I ferry o'er — 
A day that surely shall come — 
I will ask no more on Heaven's shore 
Than a hearty Irish welcome." 
(Laughter and applause). 

You are giving our friend, Judge O'Brien, to-night a treasure 
of memory which will last him until that final summons comes. 
It is indeed a delightful service. Life is short, and as much as 
we crowd it with action, with energies, with efforts, there is noth- 
ing so becoming, after all, as to let the flowers of friendship 
bloom by the roadside. It is indeed a graceful act of the St. 
Patrick's Society to constitute an occasion, the parallel of which 
has rarely, if ever, been seen in the City of New York, when so 
many men gather around the festive board with the single and 
the sole purpose of doing honor to a gentleman of their acquain- 
tance: and the best of it all is that he is worthy of all the honor 
that you can do him. (Applause). 

I have no patience with the pessimist. I like the man who 
loves his fellow-man and loves his country and sees good in the 
times in which he lives. (Applause). 

"I do distrust the poet who discerns 
No character or glory in his time ; 
But trundles back his soul five hundred years, 

past moat and drawbridge, 
Into castle court, to sing." 

The theme I love to hear sung is the theme of to-day and 
about the men of to-day, the men who are about us, whose lives 
we know, whose incomings and outgoings we are familiar with 
whose character we may determine out of our own experience, 
whose length and breadth we can measure by the compass of 
our own minds ; and here to-night we have before us in the pillory 
a man that we place there not for punishment but for praise, and 



26 

not for praise by reason of convention but praise out of our 
hearts, because we believe all that we say. (Applause). 

It is a beautiful country that takes a man from the ranks and 
elevates him to a station demanding respect and honor, such as 
we have an example of here this evening. Scratch beneath any 
dress suit at this table and you find in two generations, if not in 
one, somebody deep down in the ranks of the people ; and we 
cannot do too much honor to a civilization, or to a time, which, 
within the space of two generations, or perhaps one, enables a 
man by his own efforts to reach the point of esteem, of honor, 
and of respect which Judge O'Brien has reached to-night. 
(Applause). 

It were idle to multiply words. The occasion speaks for 
itself. It is an honor to us all to have such a guest; it is an honor 
to the guest to have such friends. (Applause). 

The President : Gentlemen : We have with us 
to-night a gentleman who has known Judge O'Brien 
for many years, who knew him when he came to the 
Bar and has admired him while upon the Bench. I 
present to you Mr. Julien T. Davies. (Applause). 

Mr. Davies: Mr. President and Gentlemen, I feel truly 
gratified in being asked to address so distinguished an audience 
on such a subject, and I feel particularly honored that I should 
have been selected to say a few words as the representative of 
the Bar — that Bar to which, on both sides of the Atlantic, ever 
since there has been a Bar worthy of the name, the sons of St. 
Patrick have contributed many of the most prominent and dis- 
tinguished ornaments. (Applause). Mr. President, it is a tradi- 
tion of the Bar that lawyers do not cease to be such when they 
become judges, and we claim the guest of the evening as a mem- 
ber of the Bar, and as one who has always continued to be such 
during his career upon the Bench. (Applause). 



27 



We all form our judgment of men somewhat from our per- 
sonal experience. There is always perhaps some one occasion 
which constitutes the test ; and may I be permitted to say that, 
of all the acts of kindness that I owe to Mr. Justice O'Brien, I 
esteem none more highl}^ than that which permitted me to be- 
come a member of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick. (Applause), 
I was afraid, when I explained to him that 1 had to go back 250 
years to find my Irish ancestors on the soil of Ireland, that he 
would not admit my claim ; but he was good enough to think that 
that drop of Irish blood was strong enough to be undiluted, not- 
withstanding that it had mingled with the blood of many nations 
during that 250 years. He did not say to me, Mr. President, 
what perhaps he might have said — he did not make to me the 
famous remark of the man who, dining and finding himself 
served with a very good soup, called the waiter to him and said 
"John, where does that soup come from ?" "Oh, that, Your 
Honor, is ox-tail." "But, John," he said, "isn't that going back 
rather far for soup ?" (Laughter). The fact that I was not told 
that I was going back too far for soup in claiming to be eligible 
for membership of this society was certainly one of the most 
potent reasons for my friendly feelings towards the guest of the 
evening. (Applause). 

Mr. President, seldom has a man had an opportunity to 
plead a cause under such favorable circumstances as I have 
to-night. There are a large number of judges here — in fact, 
every judge of the Supreme Court who does duty within the 
City of New York with the exception of one or two who are 
unavoidably detained elsewhere. Now, what a Court is that for 
a lawyer to address himself to ? And then this jury composed of 
representatives of the Irish race, the most poweiful and distin- 
guished of their number, who have gained influence in our great 
metropolis ! I would that I could always address a Court and 
Jury after dinner, but unfortunately we do not have such good 
luck as a rule. But now, Mr. President, my parallel begins to 



28 

fail me. When I ask, what is my cause? I recognize that 
Morgan J. O'Brien is one of the parties, but who is on the other 
side ? Nobody is against him ; everj-body is for him, and he is 
against nobody. It seems then as if I was obliged to speak in 
a cause where everybody was on the side of my client. The 
fact is, Mr. President, that Mr. Justice O'Brien is indeed a 
friendly son of St. Patrick, and it is that friendliness that has 
endeared him to the members of the Bar. (Applause). We respect 
his ability; we admire his learning: but for his kindly, patient 
and friendly heart, he has our affection. (Applause). As president 
of this Society he has served for three successive terms. The 
Bar will claim him for three successive terms. (Applause). That 
may not be his wish, but we will not be denied. Nor will the 
limit of time nor the limit of age interfere, for although as the 
years go by he will reach that period when an inexorable law 
requires our judges to retire, his heart will ever be young, and 
that age limit will never affect the kindly affections of the nature 
which has endeared him to us. (Applause). 

Mr. President, permit the Bar, whose representative you 
have been good enough to make me this evening, to join in this 
tribute to Mr. Justice O'Brien, and to say that, in the experience 
of the Bar, there has never been a more cordial exhibition of 
affection and regard to one of our number, than that which this 
gathering brings to him to-night. (Loud and prolonged applause). 

The President: A gentleman who has long been 
associated with Judge O'Brien upon the Bench, will 
now tell you something of the esteem in which Judge 
O'Brien is held by his brothers upon the Bench. I in- 
troduce Judge Gildersleeve. 

Judge Gildersleeve, who was received with ap- 
plause, said: 

Mr. President and Gentlemen: I am proud to raise my 



29 

humble voice in commendation of the life and character of Mor- 
gan J. O'Brien. (Applause) The well-deserved compliment he 
enjoys to night is vouchsafed to but few men in this world. He 
has given up, we are told, the distinguished honor of presiding 
over this influential society. Who would not give up any honor 
for the compliment he receives here to-night ? (Applause). 

About a year ago, more or less, we were told that he was 
likely to give up the office to which he has contributed so much 
distinction. As his intimate friend and companion, I could 
scarcely understand how it was. I did not believe that he seri- 
ously intended to deprive the people of his valuable services. He 
must have had in contemplation an occasion like this (laughter), 
and it certainly was enough to tempt any man. He not only 
hears the story of his life, grasps those whom he loves by the 
hand and receives assurances of their continued affection and 
devotion — an occasion that he and all of us will remember 
throughout our lives — but he receives this magnificent loving 
cup, which when our memories shall all have passed away, will 
remain an heirloom in his family forever and forever. (Applause). 

I happen to know that, while this will stand as a king among 
the trophies that decorate his sideboard, he possesses other cups 
not won by devotion to social organizations, not won through the 
affections of those of whom he is fond, but won by his skill as a 
golfer. (Laughter). Gentlemen, I take second place to none of 
you in admiration of the excellent qualities of Judge O'Brien, to 
which our attention has been fittingly called to-night, but I bow 
to him with profound respect when I recall the occasions upon 
the links when I have fallen a victim to his skill. (Laughter). 
Once before it was my privilege to allude to this game that does 
not interest all of you, and on that occasion I was able to make 
a very favorable report in my own behalf. I held my head up 
high and I looked you all squarely in the face. To-night my 
head is bowed very low, and I humbly acknowledge his superior 
skill. (Laughter). I am bound to confess that I am one of his 



3° 

debtors and I owe him ten good golf balls which I must pay on 
the first opportunity. (Laughter). 

I have said that he gave up something, I don't think he had 
the banquet in view when he gave it up, but at all events the sur- 
render of an office furnished the occasion for the triumphs of this 
evening. He had to give up something. He has had everything 
from his youth up, and no organization to which he has ever 
belonged has failed to place him in the highest office. Why? I 
am told to-night by some who have known him longer than I 
have, that twenty years ago, when he could not row a bit, he 
had an old boat up at the Harlem River that he called the 
"Harp," and they made him president of the rowing club.( Much 
laughter). If he did not give up something he would be one that 
none of us ever expect to see in this life — he would have the 
whole earth. 

But to go back a moment to the cups, I want to remind him 
that Col. Harvey, Judge O'Brien and myself are tenants in com- 
mon in a cup, and it remains for Judge O'Brien to win over the 
two-thirds before that too joins this magnificent trophy that will 
go to his home to-night. But I have no doubt that he will get it 
in the end. (Laughter). Those of us who think we can play golf 
a little better than he say that his Irish luck pulls him through. 
(Laughter). 

Tried by every test known to mankind, in the case of Judge 
O'Brien the result is always pure gold; but he has seen very lit- 
tle of adversity, and I am not sure that he has ever been tried in 
that court. 

An unfortunate colored man met a friend of his one day, and 
the friend said to him, "Why, Sam, I hear you have been in hard 
luck." "Hard luck ? Yes, Pete, things have gone against me — 
had a mighty hard time of it lately." "Well, cheer up, cheer up, 
old man, adversity tries all of us — brings out our best qualities." 
"Ah-h-h, it wasn't adversity that tried me. It was an old vaga- 



31 

bon' of a judge, and he brought out my worst qualities. 
(Laughter). 

You do not expect me, I am sure, to speak of the judicial 
qualities of our guest. Some of my associates — and I occasionally 
concur with them — are prone to think that we don't always get the 
best law from the Appellate Division (laughter), and when we 
are reversed we think they are wrong ; we say ' 'Just wait until 
the question gets up the river. It may not get out of the O'Brien 
family (laughter), but when it gets up there, we shall get the law 
of the land that is irrevocable." (Much laughter). 

Now, gentlemen, I have seen about every side, I think, of 
the life of the guest of the evening ; but for devotion to the faith 
that is in him, for goodly fellowship, unselfishness and loyalty to 
his friends, put me down as placing Judge O'Brien at the very 
top of the list. (Applause). By reason of the close fellowship 
that exists between us, I am warranted in adding a word to the 
sentiment so eloquently expressed by Judge Fitzgerald in refer- 
ence to his family. To her who years ago took him by the hand 
and promised to be an affectionate, a devoted and a loving wife 
until death them did part, we shall delight to drink the health 
to-night; and let me, in connection with the toast to Mrs. O'Brien, 
not forget the ten robust children that their happy union has con- 
tributed to the wealth, the happiness, and the prosperity of the 
community. (Enthusiastic applause). 

The President : I now have the pleasure of pre- 
senting to you ex-Senator Thomas C. O'Sullivan. 

Mr. O'Sullivan, who was warmly applauded, said : 

Mr. Chairman: Some time ago, at a royal banquet given to 
an Eastern potentate, the Eastern fellow, not accustomed to the 
ways of civilized society, and especially to that part of it as 
exemplified at our dinners, was mystified by the presence of six 



32 

gentlemen at the table. They were mournful, long-faced, lugu- 
brius individuals, and he did not understand why, at a feast of 
merriment of that character, they should be so mournful, so sad ; 
and leaning over to the chairman of the evening he said: Mr. 
Chairman, what are these sad gentlemen here for? Are they to 
be executed after this feast as a part of the entertainment ? " 
when the chairman responded, "No, they are not to be executed. 
These are the six after-dinner speakers, and that is why they 
are so sad." (Laughter). I can understand the sadness of the 
gentlemen myself when subjected to the treatment of the New 
York judiciary. (Laughter). You have heard the gentlemen, 
who compose a great part of the judiciary, to-night, and they 
have had ample opportunity to elaborate their opinion, but with 
their elegant disregard for legal procedure, the judicial gentle- 
man who presides at the banquet this evening has given a 
notice of motion to his adversary, namely myself, just ten min- 
utes before the return of the argument. (Laughter). However, 
I am here to say with you all that we heartily endorse and 
approve every sentiment that has been expressed concerning 
Judge O'Brien, It has been just now shown it will be impossi- 
ble for him at least to retire from the presidency of the Friendly 
Sons and Daughters, though he may retire from the presidency 
of the Friendly Sons. (Laughter and applause). 

This is an occasion which excites not only sympathy, but, 
looking upon the array of judicial talent which honors us this 
evening it may excite ambition as well, because lawyers are 
ambitious. The admonition "Beware of ambition" was only 
given to angels, and let it be said that it is not necessary to 
remark the distinction between lawyers and angels. (Laughter). 

Some time ago in a little church in the eastern hills, after 
service, a lady, who had brought her child that Sunday to the 
service, was seated in one of the pews with the baby, after the 
congregation had left, and the clergyman walking down through 
the aisle with his garb had frightened the child ; the child began 



33 

to cry, when the priest approached the woman and asked "what 
is the matter with the baby?" "Well," she says " Your Rev- 
erence, it is crying on account of your robe; it is afraid of it." 
"Oh," he said, "let the baby not be afraid. It will one day per- 
haps be a priest as I am," and the lady replied " It will be hard 
for it, father, because it is a little girl." (Laughter). 

When I looked upon the array of judges seated here to-night 
I thought that the obstacle to a lawyer's ambition was there 
as insurmountable, as was the case with the baby. When I 
thought of the long period yet to be served by the able judges, I 
thought, how useless is ambition on the part of younger lawyers ! 
But I thought again how useless it would be, even for the most 
ambitious of us, to aspire to hold not only the place on the Bench 
but the place which Justice O'Brien holds in the hearts of the 
citizens of New York City. (Applause). 

It has been well said that the best theme of to-day is the man 
of to-day, but thinking of the man of to-day brings us back to the 
men of days gone by, and to-night in particular might we be 
brought back to a generation of men who, in other days, from a 
less favored land sought our shore— the men from the birthland 
of Judge O'Brien's father, of my father and the fathers of many 
of you— who in a day long gone, knowing nothing of the land to 
which they came, but as the child comes to its mother so they 
came to this country prepared to love it and to die for it if neces- 
sary. (Applause), Young, with the strength of brass in their 
toughened sinews, and with hopeful hearts, the men came, in a 
generation that is gone, to our shores and found perhaps the wel- 
come that was given to many, but in some cases not the hope, 
not the encouragement for progress as we find it here to-day— 
they came, and many followed wherever labor was to be found. 
The wilderness was cleared, the click of the Irish Catholic wood- 
man's axe was heard in the forests of the North, and along the 
railway, and in the forges, they followed wherever work was to 
be found. Their name became synonymous with labor and truth ; 



34 

and when the tocsin of war sounded, ready to fling themselves to 
death for the flag under the folds of which they found shelter, many 
of them wrote their names on the scrolls of American glory. To- 
day, bending beneath the weight of years, they are finding their 
way to graves to which the children of future generations will 
come for inspiration to patriotism, to love and duty. (Applause). 

Such is the record of our fathers, but theirs was the work of 
rough hewing of the rock, ours the work of refining it ; and to- 
night their sons are an examplification of splendid opportunities, 
grasped by their fathers, developed by them. The sons of fathers 
such as ours have brought down with them into our age the ex- 
ample of duty well preformed, brought down with them the 
mission that was given them to stand not only for Church, but 
to stand for Home — that home the home of Americans — and to 
stand for the Flag which is emblematic of freedom. (Applause) 

You may talk about prosperity ; you may talk about the ad- 
vancement by the young men in every stage of life ; but the 
respect and the esteem with which men regard Judge O'Brien 
in our community to-day is but the respect and the esteem given 
to the man who grasps the opportunity that comes to ability, to 
the man who takes from his father the mission to perform that 
which he started out to do — a splendid example for the young 
men of any race or of any time. (Cries of "Bravo") 

A great deal has been said of the religious differences which 
made men suffer in these long gone days ; of the obstacles with 
which they had to encounter. We are looking back on the dark 
shadows of the past, but we are looking forward to the sunlit 
summits of the future, and we say to a man like Judge O'Brien, 
notwithstanding what our churches have done, notwithstanding 
what our schools have done, notwithstanding what the deep con- 
servatism of the Catholic Church has performed to blunt the 
edge of bigotry; the association of decent men with decent 
thoughts, with noble minds, business men associating with busi- 
ness men throughout our land, has done more to blunt the edge 



35 

of bigotry, and to make fellowmen out of our citizens, than all 
the "isms" and "ologies" that our schools ever taught (hear, 
hear) ; because we have arrived at that period of our existence 
when the pass word to manly society is not "What is your 
religion?" but "Are you a man?" ; and these are the principles 
for which the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick exist to-day. (Applause). 
Our society exemplifies more thoroughly than can any other 
American Society the true meaning of decent fellowship and 
true American citizenship. (Applause). 

Judge O'Brien's course has been one which reflects credit 
upon his fathers, upon the race from which he comes, upon the 
religion which he observes and upon the society of which he is a 
member. (Applause). As a member of the New York Bar, as a 
member of the Friendly Sons, as a son of an Irish father, as an 
American citizen, 1 am proud to greet Judge O'Brien to-night, 
and proud with the pride of my race to give him the greeting 
and the farewell of a parting guest ; and I say to him, without 
any desire to risk his friendship, but to get the endorsement of 
truthful men who know New York, that he is a member of a 
Bench in a Department in which there is nothing that is inferior 
to any other legal department of its kind in our legal system. 
(Applause). Throughout the world, wherever our system of law 
obtains, there is no department superior to the First Department 
of the State of New York. Its decisions are read side by side 
with decisions of Courts of Last Resort, and with those of the 
courts of Last Resort in England. No man upon its Bench has 
more the esteem of the members of the Bar and his fellow 
citizens than Judge O'Brien, (hear, hear), and whether here or 
away from us, he will continue, we know, to warrant our love 
and our esteem ; and as he has paraphrased the poet, so do we 
when we say to him : 

"Go where glory waits thee, but while fame elates thee 
We will still remember thee." 

(Prolonged applause). 



36 

The President introduced M. Warley Platzek as the 
last speaker of the evening. 

Mr. Platzek, who was warmly received, said: 

Mr. President and Gentlemen, the hour is late and so much 
has been truthfully said in praise of Judge O'Brien that it is 
difficult even to conjure what any human being can say further 
in his honor. There comes to my mind the utterance of an emi- 
nent public man, who, when he was called upon to speak in com- 
mendation of a most distinguished judicial predecessor, the great 
John Marshall, and who, like myself, was introduced without 
notice at the close of a banquet, said of Marshall : 

"Formed for all parts; in all alike to shine. 
In converse bright ; judicious in debate. 
In private amiable ; in public great. 
(Applause). 

I freely and cheerfully lay this laurel at the foot and 
fountain of wisdom of Judge Morgan J. O'Brien, for well 
and meritoriously does he deserve it to-day as in the early period 
of his life. (Applause) And now, lest it should appear on this 
auspicious occasion that there are none who love and admire 
Judge O'Brien, other than the members of this patriotic and 
magnificent organization, let me say that his friends are legion, 
embracing all nationalities and all faiths. Whether they be Irish, 
whether they be German, whether they be French, English, 
Italian or Dutch — no matter what their faith, their race or creed, 
they all have learned to respect and to admire the comprehensive 
liberality, broad-mindedness and sacred regard for the right of 
conscience, of the guest of to-night. (Applause). 

It is to me an immeasurable pleasure to be afforded the op- 
portunity, not to laud Judge O'Brien nor to flatter him, because 



37 

he who flatters him is not his friend, but to tell him, in this 
splendid presence, that no man has won or holds the hearts, the 
confidence and the admiration of the Bar, and especially of the 
junior members of the Bar, and so deservedly and so justly as 
Judge O'Brien. (Applause). He is yet among the junior mem- 
bers of the Bar. I can recall him in the very beginning of my 
own career. I doubt whether he is one year older than I am. I 
recall him at the Bar ; I recall his splendid record as Corporation 
Counsel ; his elevation to the Bench ; his illustrious record as a 
judge, as also his exceptional modesty on the Bench. He has 
never forgotten, nor does he forget to-day, that he once stood at 
the Bar, pleading for the justice he now administers, and that he 
was not always on the Bench. Every young man at the Bar, 
during the many years that he sat on the Bench, has gone before 
him confident of a patient hearing, confident that they would get 
the best thought of his mind, faithful in the opinion that he 
would decide as best he knew how— and I know that he always 
did. (Applause). I say to such men the Bar and the public owe 
a debt of gratitude, even greater and broader than this society 
can pay him. In conclusion I will say that I appreciate the com- 
pliment implied in being asked to say a few words here as a 
great honor. We have heard so much of Judge O'Brien's past; 
we have heard a great deal of his present status. May we not 
entertain a fond hope for his future? I believe that Judge 
O'Brien is only commencing to live now. Young, active, modest, 
full of ambition and health, I bespeak for him a career, honor- 
able and creditable in every way. (Applause). Ambition, of 
course, we all have, and some may say that when a lawyer at- 
tains the exalted position of a Supreme Court Justice he has 
obtained the highest place that one can hope for. If that be his 
ambition, let us retain him there so long as he will and even 
against his will,(applause), because we know whom we have— we 
know not whom we may get. Therefore I say, whenever there is 
heard a rumor of Judge O'Brien leaving the Bench, may there be 



38 

a very revolution of opposition of the men of the Bar and the 
people of this County, and that they insist, as they have fol- 
lowed him in placing him on the Bench, that he obey them and 
remain on the Bench. (Applause). 

One word more and I have done. We admire Judge O'Brien 
for his learning; we respect him for his honest opinions, for his 
able decisions ; but I think, all in all and over and above all, 
that we love him best as plain, honest, cordial, lovable 
Morgan J. O'Brien. (Loud and prolonged applause). 

After the singing of "Auld Lang Syne," in which all 
joined, the company dispersed. 



Reported and published by order of the Society, 
igoo. 



LIBRARY OF GUN Htbc 





